France allocates €24 million and weapons to Central African Republic

France will allocate €24 million assistance to the Central African Republic (CAR) and will send weapons to the country, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said, Voaafrique reported.

“France is willing to continue its historical partnership with the Central African Republic,” said Le Drian at a press conference. He said that France would provide CAR with about 1.4 thousand units of automatic weapons. French Foreign Minister did not mention the date when the delivery of the weapons would take place but he, according to him, it would take place in the near future.

Last Monday, October 22, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that they were planning to send a new batch of weapons and 60 military instructions to the CAR. There are already 175 Russian instructors in the country who are training local military.

French Defense Minister Florence Parley later said that Russia's presence in the CAR does not help stabilize the situation in the country. Her statement followed the reports that Abdulay Issen, one of the leaders of the military formation of the former Muslim insurgents Séléka, gave an ultimatum to the Central African forces and demanded that the CAR and the Russian military leave the territories controlled by Seleka within 48 hours.